MENTAL DISORDERS AND CRIME : AN INTRODUCTION TO CLINICAL CRIMINOLOGY

Abstract

The importance of criminological research is increasing nowadays. Crime is the most dangerous form of deviance and has the most severe social consequences. Combating crime would not be conceivable without the theories and knowledge of criminology. The application of theoretical knowledge in practice should be promoted in criminological research. The manifestations of crime as a socially negative and legal phenomenon are widespread, and social deviations can have completely different forms of manifestation. This is clearly supported by the findings of clinical criminology that evolved from the concept of classical criminology. Clinical criminology is a theoretical and practical study of the personality of a criminal who has committed a criminal offence in a state of mental incapacity or diminished mental capacity, and an approach to determining preventive measures and means.